Young, Male and Anti-Feminist – The Gen Z Boys Who Hate Women

[MondayYogurt]

Sorry it's Vice, but possibly worth discussing: www.vice.com/en/article/dyv7by/anti-feminist-gen-z-boys-who-hate-women

Half of young men in the UK now believe that feminism has “gone too far and makes it harder for men to succeed”. These are the results of a significant study published in July 2020 by anti-extremism charity HOPE not Hate. The study, Young People in the Time of COVID-19, surveyed 2,076 16- to 24-year-olds on their ideological beliefs.

That was one of the better articles I've seen on Vice. It's scary as hell...I had one experience when a friend's teen kept over talking and generally being quite rude to my teen DD. His dad intervened and admonished him. Later, both parents (good friends of mine) told me how they don't know why he's been so rude to girls lately as they've seen him do this on more than one occasion. Makes me wonder...

@Delphinium20Glad the father intervened but I hope they don't stop at 'not knowing' and talk this through with him

This part seems relevant:

John, 21, was radicalised by the far right when he was in his late teens. He spent two long years in his bedroom in the north of England learning about far-right ideology online and trolling feminists. Mostly he would infiltrate feminist groups or use multiple anonymous Twitter accounts to verbally abuse or harass women any time anything to do with women or feminists were trending or performing well on the platform.

Its a response to a more unequal society, where we have seen a reversal in progress generally. Resources are being hoarded by the few again, and previously slightly more successful groups (men, white people, older people) are encourgaed by the hoarders to look for scapegoats, rather than address the real cause.

[quote FindTheTruth]@Delphinium20Glad the father intervened but I hope they don't stop at 'not knowing' and talk this through with him[/quote]
I agree. Surprisingly this father I know well and he's the last kind of guy I'd suspect to raise his son like that. Which was why it was so shocking.

So much to say!

Not even read it all yet.

Initial thoughts. Men thinking feminism has 'gone too far' is hardly new. It's been around as long as I can remember.

Loads of men have always disliked feminists. Same old. Not news.

'Ted, a 24-year-old from Kent, told me he might have felt sympathetic towards feminism before, “but when you get put in the same bracket with the whole ‘men are trash’ etcetera, then you think what’s the point?” '

Feminists say all men are trash? When? Which? Eh?

This is an excuse obviously which goes back to my previous point.

'I'm a lovely bloke and was totally feminist and etc but then I saw a thing which I didn't like and so I got all my deeply held ideas about women's rights and chucked them out the window'.

Ok.

I disagree with a lot of Feminists but I don't stop being one.

Same as I don't stop supporting animal welfare because peta are dicks. And I don't stop supporting children's charities because of some of them tolerating CSA by their people overseas.

'In 2018, #MeToo provided women with an opportunity to talk about sex, dating and rape culture. Arguably, it also provided men in their 20s and 30s at the time to reconcile their own behaviour and review their encounters with women. It suggested a symbiotic relationship: Women speak, and men listen and are able to understand their masculinity through this outpouring. '

Come off it. That's not how any of the men in my workplace reacted!

They went very quickly through these steps

Oh no that's terrible why didn't anyone tell us (!!?? Been doing little else for decades)

Hmm that's an awful lot of stuff. Some of it must be made up or exaggerated.

We can't even look at a woman any more!!!!

'Millennials were the last generation to genuinely care about men’s publications'

Anyone know what this means? I genuinely don't.

I have a major issue with the use of 'anti feminist' throughout.

They aren't anti feminist. They are anti women and girls.

Also. Why is porn not mentioned (unless I missed it).

Tritemale

Feminism has always been unpopular. Describing yourself as a feminist if you're young and straight has never been something many did. Because blokes don't like it. Nothing new.

You agree with GC Feminists that sex exists and matters. Cool. So do 99.9% of the world's population. There's only women talking about it though in public. Because it affects us more. Many aren't feminists.

I don't know a single bloke who doesn't think it's drivel.

Come off it. That's not how any of the men in my workplace reacted!

They went very quickly through these steps

And also, -they are to blame for any subsequent assaults because they didn't speak out immediately. Saw that one a lot

Well quite.

I grew up with page 3 everywhere, those things in pubs where you bought the peanuts and a topless woman would be revealed. Nudie calendars on the walls in blokey places.

Then came nuts etc.

Then came online porn.

The fact that the writer seems to overlook that the internet in general is a man zone, and that content way more extreme than ever before is available at any age at the press of a button. Seems like a massive oversight.

FromEden quite.

If it happened why didn't they report it??

Erm. If you need to ask you haven't got a clue.

Anecdote time.

I was matey with a man at work. They all knew I was a feminist because now I'm older I don't care what they think.

Anyway he came to me one day and said there'd been a big work drink and one of the men was going around essentially sexually assaulting women.

He looked like he wanted a pat on the back for noticing and thinking it was bad.

I said. What did you do about it?

And he looked utterly baffled.

He said what could I do? If I challenged him blah blah. Men always say that.

I said. Tell the doormen. Tell the bar staff. Let them deal with it.

He wasn't happy.

That's a standard thing- blokes think it's nothing to do with them. Women's business they can sort it. And there's always the oh I don't want a confrontation. There's other things you can do. They don't do them.

What joy to have a man explaining his views at length to us on a discussion forum for women.